"So is that why you were so afraid to tell me?" Charlie asked me later that night as we ate dinner.

"What?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about.

"What he said about you being all alone and nobody wanting you."

I looked away. "I guess," I shrugged, "I mean, I just didn't want him to be right."

"Well he's not right."

"I know," I smiled at the wonderful man sitting across from me. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

With Malcolm out of the way, Charlie and I began to plan the wedding. Our relationship improved greatly from the moment that Don told us they had caught Malcolm. We had always been very close, but now the bond binding us together was not about to be broken anytime soon.

It wasn't until wedding preparations had begun that I realized how hard it was. There were just so many things to think about – cakes, flowers, reception halls, dresses, guest lists, caterers – the list went on and on. It was about this time that I began to wish that my mother were here. Planning for a wedding seemed to be something that a mother was supposed to do, so I felt incredibly alone and very stressed.

"Charlie," I moaned one night as we tried to make up a list of guests, "I don't think I can do this."

"You're doing fine, baby."

I sighed. "What does either of us know about weddings? I mean, I've never even been to a wedding! Unless you count the one I went to when I was, like, 6."

"How about this. We'll have a simple ceremony with only a few of our closest friends."

"That sounds good…but where?"

"Why not right here in the back yard?" he asked, "My dad had a wedding for an old friend there once."

I immediately brightened at the suggestion. An outdoor wedding sounded like a perfect idea to me. "That would be great!"

Charlie smiled. "Ok. Well, now that we've got that out of the way….what are you going to do about a dress?"

"Megan's going shopping with me on Saturday."

"Ok… we've still got to finish this guest list, you know."

I groaned. "This is taking forever. I can probably list all of the people I want at my wedding off the top of my head. You, me, Don, Megan, Larry, Colby, David, Millie and a pastor." I paused. "Oh, and Madelyn and Rebecca," I added, naming two of my friends from my old apartment building.

"That's it?" Charlie asked.

"That's it."

"What about your family?"

"What family? My grandmother was the only one who still talked to me, and she's dead. My mom and dad moved back to India, and haven't talked to me since."

"There's no harm in asking," Charlie told me.

"Yeah, "I said sarcastically, "I'll just call them up and say, 'Hey mom and dad. I know that for some unknown reason you hate me, but I'd just like to tell you that I'm getting married and am inviting you to the wedding.'"

"Amita." Charlie gave me what I call The Look. It's the look he has on his face when he doesn't like what I'm saying or doing for whatever reason. I seemed to be getting The Look a lot recently.

"I'm sorry. I do want my parents here, but I just don't think they'd come."

Charlie reached over and hugged me. "Ok, whatever you say."

On Saturday Megan and I went shopping for my wedding dress. We walked all around Los Angeles trying to find the perfect gown. "I'll never find one!" I complained as I stared at my reflection, clad in a floufy, ruffley number that the sales woman picked out for me.

"I think it looks great," the lady said.

"Yeah for Wedding Day Barbie!" I exclaimed. "I mean look at me! I can't tell where I am! There are too many bows and ruffles and stuff."

"I agree," Megan piped in, trying hard not to laugh.

The sales lady's face fell. "All right, let's try something else"

I retreated to my dressing room. "Megan, make sure she picks a good one this time!" I shouted through the door.

She laughed. "I'll do my best."

I must have tried on a hundred dresses that afternoon – from one's with red lace or pink flowers to a dress that looked like it belonged to a hooker to a white suit. "I just want a traditional, white wedding dress." I insisted. "Nothing too fancy or anything. Just white. That's it."

I slipped into the dress that the sales lady had handed over the door, telling myself that if this one was as bad as the rest, I was giving up and going home. I zipped the back up as far as I could, and without even looking in the mirror, I stepped out of the dressing room. "Ta da." I said without any enthusiasm.

Megan and the sales lady both gasped. "What?" I asked, "Is it really that bad?" I swirled around to look in the mirror, and felt my breath catch in my throat. It was perfect. The dress was strapless, and was made of silk. It fit me like a glove up until my waist where is swished gracefully away from my body. The only decoration on it was a line of tiny white, silk roses along the top and hem of the dress. "It's perfect!" I exclaimed.

"You look gorgeous, Amita!" Megan exclaimed.

"It is quite pretty," the sales lady admitted.

"This is the one." I told them. "This is the dress that I'm going to marry Charlie in."

Megan and I were much more relaxed as we continued shopping that day. We decided to eat lunch at a quaint outdoor café. Our waitress came up to us to take our order. She looked very familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "Lily!" I exclaimed suddenly.

A look of confusion spread on her face. "Do I know you? You look kind of familiar…"

"I'm Amita! The girl from the hospital? A couple of months ago my fiancée got shot and I was in the waiting room and your mom was there because of her cancer. Do you remember me?"

A smile appeared on the young girl's face. "I remember! How are you? How's your fiancée… what was his name again?"

"I'm great. Charlie's good, too. The wedding is next month." I suddenly remembered Megan. "This is my friend, Megan. We just bought my wedding dress!"

"Hi," Lily greeted Megan.

I suddenly had an idea. "Do you want to come to my wedding? It'd mean a lot to me, you really helped me when I was in the hospital."

"Oh, um, I'd love to! But my sisters…my mom can't take care of them for too long."

"They can come too! I need a flower girl anyway."

"Um, ok. Cool."

I gave Lily my phone number as we left, telling her to call me the next day to work out some details.

"Charlie!" I exclaimed as I entered the house. "We've got one more guest for the wedding!"

A/N Yay! I've been waiting for this chapter. I liked Lily so much that I had to bring her back into the story somehow! Don't worry…more surprises to come!

xoxo

Lia